Mirror : Murder detectives to quiz spies for first time over body-in-a-bag death

Murder detectives to quiz spies for first time over body-in-a-bag death

Met commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said the secret intelligence service would be treated the same as any other organisation

Tom Pettifor | May 9, 2012

MURDER squad detectives are to quiz MI6 staff for the first time about the death of spy Gareth Williams, it was revealed yesterday.

Met commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said the secret intelligence service would be treated the same as any other organisation as his officers reinvestigate the case.

He said: “All we need to do is make sure all areas of his life were fully explored.”

Staff will be screened for DNA on a voluntary basis.

Mr Hogan-Howe added that the Met would have complete access to MI6 material.

He branded it “unacceptable” that officers only learned of memory sticks and a holdall found at Mr Williams’ work at last month’s inquest, two years after his body was discovered.

A coroner ruled that Mr Williams, 31, from Anglesey, who was found locked in a bag in a bath in his London flat in 2010, was probably unlawfully killed.

Mirror : 'Body in the bag' spy death: The six key questions that must be answered at the inquest

'Body in the bag' spy death: The six key questions that must be answered at the inquest

Tom Pettifor | April 23, 2012

The inquest into MI6 spy Gareth Williams's mysterious death began today. Here are six questions that remain unanswered

Was there someone else in the flat with Gareth Williams when he died?

Police say it would have been impossible to get into the locked bag alone.

Mr Williams’s body had no signs of defence injuries from a struggle.

The flat was double locked and there was no forensic evidence of a third party.

Why did it take so long to raise the alarm?

Mr Williams was last seen on August 15, 2010, and police believe he died in the early hours of the following day.

But he was not reported missing by anyone until his sister rang police seven days later.

Were the dark arts of the spooks involved?

His family suspect members of an intelligence service were involved in what they see as a possible murder and cover-up.

Was Mr Williams being followed?

A friend is said to have told police he had told her he feared he was under surveillance.

But he did not reveal by whom.

Was Mr Williams’s work behind his death?

He had just returned from holiday in the United States but neither MI6 nor GCHQ have wanted to make public what the codebreaker was involved in at the time of his death.

Did a sex game go wrong?

There was no trace of alcohol or recreational drugs in his body.

But if he was interested in auto-eroticism why was it not picked up when he was vetted?

Mirror : MI6 'hid evidence': Body-in-bag spy's memory sticks withheld from cops

MI6 'hid evidence': Body-in-bag spy's memory sticks withheld from cops

Tom Pettifor | May 1, 2012

Vital evidence belonging to spy Gareth Williams was not passed by MI6 to detectives investigating his death, an inquest has heard.

Murder squad officers were understood to be furious that nine computer memory sticks and a North Face bag similar to the holdall his body was found in have been withheld from the murder inquiry for 20 MONTHS.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, the officer spearheading the case, said she only found out about the items’ existence for the first time this week.

She told Westminster Coroner’s Court police should have been given the material at the time of Mr Williams’ death in August 2010.

The memory sticks, which were accessed by MI6 following the 31-year-old’s death, had been kept in a cupboard at the spy’s shared office in Vauxhall Cross, central London.

Detective Constable Colin Hall, an officer from SO15, the Met’s counter-terrorism branch, searched Mr Williams’ workplace but made no inventory of his belongings because it included “sensitive” items.

Det Con Hall said a list of items not actually seized as evidence would not be ‘routinely done’.

Anthony O’Toole, representing the family, asked him: “If this hadn’t involved SIS, and it was the Kray twins, or somebody else you were investigating, you would have gone into this in far more detail, wouldn’t you?”

DC Hall replied: “I chose at the time not to write anything down. Obviously I’m under instructions - I do what I’m told.”

The SO15 detective also visited Mr Williams’ flat just hours after his body was first discovered.

Records from the crime scene show he entered at around 8pm, dressed in forensic clothing.

The security services and police have always maintained Mr Williams’ death had no connection with his work.

Asked by Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox if she had known of the memory sticks’ existence, DCI Sebire replied simply: “No.”

Dr Wilcox asked: “Has your team ever been given possession of these?”

DCI Sebire replied: “No.”

And she added: “Had I known of their existence, I would have expected them to be at least reviewed or audited by SO15, and, if information was available, then sent to my team.

“What I knew was Gareth’s email account had been checked, but I didn’t know any other media had been checked. I would have expected to be told.”

Police found Mr Williams’ decaying body in a padlocked holdall in the bathroom of his two-bedroom flat in Pimlico on the evening of August 23, 2010.

His line manager at MI6 had not raised the alarm despite him not having turned up for work since August 16 - the day after he was last seen alive.

Police believe it would have been impossible for him to have locked himself inside, while two spots of partial DNA found on the bag are said to belong to “another contributor”.

It is not known whether or not he was alive when he was sealed inside the holdall.

Detectives are also puzzled by the presence of £20,000 worth of women’s clothes found at the flat - despite friends and family insisting he had not been a transvestite.

The family’s lawyer has previously said relatives feared the flat had been professionally cleaned of evidence by an agency specialising in the “dark arts”.

The hearing continues.

Mirror : Body-in-a-bag DNA riddle: Traces of stranger's DNA found on zip and padlock on holdall... but nowhere else in MI6 spy's flat

Body-in-a-bag DNA riddle: Traces of stranger's DNA found on zip and padlock on holdall... but nowhere else in MI6 spy's flat

Traces of unidentified DNA were found on the lock and zip toggle of the sports holdall left in the MI6 officer’s bath

By Tom Pettifor | April 24, 2012

Spy Gareth Williams was placed inside his own bag by a mystery person who may also have killed him, his inquest heard today.

Traces of unidentified DNA were found on the lock and zip toggle of the sports holdall left in the MI6 officer’s bath.

Det Ch Insp Jackie Sebire – leading the inquiry into the bizarre death of the MI6 codebreaker – dismissed claims that the spy had locked himself into his bag.

She told his inquest today: “My thought since I went into the scene is that a third party had been involved in the death or putting the bag in the bath, so my primary focus was to identify anyone who had been in the bathroom.”

However, no traces of any stranger was found anywhere else in the flat.

The spy’s parents both left the inquest today before graphic images of their son’s death scene were shown.

Details also emerged of £20,000 worth of women’s designer clothing which were found in his flat, along with several women’s wigs and 26 pairs of women’s shoes.

The inquest was also told how MI6 failed to inform police when the meticulous timekeeper went missing after a working trip to the States.

His body was eventually found in his flat a week later by police only after his sister Ceri Subbe raised the alarm.

Footage of the red holdall bulging with his curled-up body was played to the inquest today.

Computer-generated images were also shown of Mr Williams lying inside on his back with his knees, hands and chin pressed into his chest.

DCI Sebire said: “In my opinion he was very calm, his face was calm, his hands were lying on his chest.

“It would have been very hot and uncomfortable within the bag.”

The inquest heard that there were two keys which fitted the padlock found inside the bag under his right buttock.

DCI Sebire also confirmed there were “two minor components of another person’s DNA” on the zip toggle and a “small component of another contributor’s DNA” on the padlock.

But she said the traces were very small and no match could be made.

Mr Williams’ grief-stricken parents, Ellen and Ian, walked out of before video footage of his flat was played.

Images showed a Sunday newspaper cutting found on a table, headlined: “Top five regrets of the dying.”

The wish list included: “I wish I had the courage to live life true to myself and not what others expected of me”, “I wish I had the courage to express my feelings” and “I wish I had let myself be happy.”

The video took the inquest on a walking tour of Mr Williams’ immaculately kept flat in Pimlico, Central London.

Around £20,000 worth of designer women’s clothing were found, along with several women’s wigs and 26 pairs of women’s shoes, including pairs by Stella McCartney and Christian Louboutin.

The shoes were all in a size six or a six-and-a-half, which would have fitted the cycling enthusiast, Westminster coroner’s court was told.

Four pairs appeared to have been worn. There was also make-up, including nail vanish, concealer and eye shadow.

But Sian Jones – a friend of Mr Williams from school in Wales – told the hearing she didn’t believe he was a transvestite.

She said: “I feel like he’d have been able to confide in me... and I wouldn’t have judged him.”

Ms Jones said she would see him every couple of days and he would shower her with gifts.

“He did say he was not happy in London,” she said. “He said that he found it quite lonely and within work it was very cliquey.

"I would say that we were childhood sweethearts when we were in school and I’d say Gareth was very fond of me.

“He was a very kind-hearted person, very lovely, very inspiring to be around and very down to earth.”

The hearing heard how Mr Williams had travelled to the US to meet intelligence agents before flying back to Gatwick on August 11, 2010.

Various receipts and CCTV footage showed that he spent some of the following four days shopping in London.

On August 13 he went on his own to see “tranny superstar” Jonny Woo performing in Bethnal Green, East London.

His final known journey was captured by a string of cameras on August 15 as he shopped in Harrods before walking home via Victoria bus station.

DCI Sebire said that the brilliant mathematician – seconded to MI6 from GCHQ – looked relaxed and did not appear to be followed.

The last known time he is believed to have been alive was 1.03am on August 16 when his computer was used to log on to a cycling website.

Four intelligence agents are due to give evidence at the hearing from behind a screen later this week.

The inquest continues.

Mirror : The spy who hated his job at MI6: 'Body-in-the-bag' victim didn't like the London "rat race"

The spy who hated his job at MI6: 'Body-in-the-bag' victim didn't like the London "rat race"

Sister explains to inquest that job was not what Williams expected

By Tom Pettifor | April 23, 2012

The plot thickened today in the real-life spy mystery of the top MI6 codebreaker found dead in a holdall.

Amid accusations of dirty tricks in the shadowy world of espionage, the first day of the inquest was told victim Gareth Williams had complained of “friction” with other spooks and was about to quit the job.

His family believe secret service agents may have been involved in his baffling death.

He was so unhappy with his work he had cut short his secondment with MI6 and had been due to leave days after his body was found in the locked bag in his bath, his sister Ceri Subbe told the hearing.

Ms Subbe said he did not feel comfortable with the job, which was “not quite what he expected”.

She said: “He disliked office culture, post-work drinks, flash car competitions and the rat race. He even spoke of friction in the office.”

The maths whizkid and ace codebreaker, 31, was on secondment to the Secret Intelligence Service from communications surveillance agency GCHQ in Cheltenham, Glos.

Police believe he died in the early hours of August 16, 2010 - a week before an officer discovered the rotting corpse in the spy’s locked apartment in Pimlico, London.

A postmortem and further tests found no trace of drugs, alcohol or poison and the police probe also failed to establish a cause of death.

Two “bag experts“ are due to give evidence to the inquest on whether it would have been possible for him to have padlocked himself inside.

And to add to the mystery, police say a woman’s wig and lady’s clothes were found in the single man’s flat.

Ms Subbe, who was accompanied by her parents, engineer Ian Williams and his wife Ellen, told the hearing her brother was on a three-year secondment in London but “as time went by his enthusiasm began to fade”.

He had already packed his bags and had spent an increasing number of weekends at his parents’ house in Anglesey, North Wales.

But MI6 had “dragged their feet” in approving his request to leave.

Ceri said in her statement: “I think the job was not quite what he had expected. There was a lot more red tape than he was comfortable with.”

She admitted he had not told her that he had completed two courses in fashion design at St Martin’s College in London.

Asked about £20,000 of women’s clothes found in his flat, she said it was “not particularly” surprising, adding that they were “possibly as a gift”.

She said he would not have let anyone into his flat unvetted and he had never told her he was being followed or felt threatened, adding: “I cannot think as to why anybody would want to harm him.”

His family want to know why the alarm was not raised when Mr Williams initially failed to turn up to work by colleagues, who described him as being as reliable as a “Swiss clock”.

By the time a police officer was sent to at the flat and the body was discovered, it was so decomposed that evidence had been lost.

Ms Subbe said he was a private man who was “very selective” in choosing friends, naming three as Sian Jones, her mother and a work colleague whose identity coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox ordered not to be revealed.

In his last conversation with her on August 13, he said he was that night going to see a transvestite comedian with his friend Sian.

His body was discovered 10 days later after Ceri raised the alarm.

PC John Gallagher said he had been on patrol on August 23 when he was told to carry out a “welfare check” on Mr Williams, who had not been seen for many days.

The front door was double-locked and he was let in by a property agent.

In the living room, PC Gallagher found a mobile phone and two SIM cards on a table and a laptop on the floor.

And he told the inquest: “My attention was drawn to a lady’s wig hanging on one of the corners of a chair.”

There were some full yellow sports holdalls in the bedroom – and then in the en-suite bathroom he noticed a bulging red North Face holdall in the bath with the zips padlocked together.

PC Gallagher said he only noticed the “particular smell” of a body when he tried to lift the bag up.

“It is unusual because normally you would expect to smell it earlier,” he said.

“I looked at the bag to try to get a picture. I noticed that the side nearest the door had a round bulge.

“I noticed there was a padlock with the two zips joined together.

“At this point I am realising it is something serious and my concern was to not damage anything in a crime scene.”

He lifted the bag up slightly and could see red fluid seeping out.

“Then there was the smell,” he told the hearing. “Probably as a result of moving the bag.”

Mr Williams’s death immediately prompted top-level discussions between murder and counter terrorism officers and MI6 were kept off the scene, it was said.

But Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, from the Met’s homicide and serious crime command, stressed that MI6 co-operated fully.

Mr Williams’s family have claimed that “agents specialising in the dark arts of the secret service” had possibly cleaned the flat after his death to hide clues.

Det Chief Supt Campbell said: “I don’t think anyone was aware of Gareth and his death until he was found in the bath.”

Four intelligence agents will give evidence at the Westminster inquest from behind a screen to avoid the “real risk” of harm to national security.

Coroner Dr Wilcox today promised she would mount a “full, fair, and fearless inquiry into the evidence of this highly controversial death”.

The inquest continues.

Mirror : Was body-in-the-bag spy betrayed by a double agent? Mole theory over MI6 codebreaker's death

Was body-in-the-bag spy betrayed by a double agent? Mole theory over MI6 codebreaker's death

In a throwback to the dark days of the Cold War, a worrying theory has emerged about the death of body-in-the-bag spy Gareth Williams

March 10, 2012

In a throwback to the dark days of the Cold War, a worrying theory has emerged about the death of body-in-the-bag spy Gareth Williams

The expert codebreaker’s decomposing body was found locked in a large sportsbag in the bath of his London flat in 2010.

There were no obvious signs of how he died or who was responsible – with many claiming a “wall of silence” surrounding his death points to a cover-up at the very heart of the British establishment.

And now it has been revealed Gareth may have been betrayed by a British double agent.

Security bosses are trying to establish if a mole somewhere within intelligence revealed his identity to foreign assassins.

The brilliant mathematician, 31, was working for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and would have been a high value target – vital in producing hi-tech defences to prevent cyber attacks on our most secret government departments.

He was one of only a handful of spies launching effective counter attacks to stop enemy hackers infiltrating British networks.

Williams had been seconded from the top-secret Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham to MI6 in the capital.

He was making clandestine visits to Washington to team up with US espionage agents and share intelligence in operations to fend off hostile hacking infiltrations by Russia and China.

Eighteen months after his bizarre death, investigators are still piecing together his every move to try to get information which could lead them back to a British double agent.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, refuses to rule out the possibility that British national security has been breached by the death.

He said: “Reassurance can only be given if it’s based on some new information, and only those who have the skills and the responsibility to carry out such an investigation can take that forward. There have been exhaustive inquiries but they have been unable to reach a conclusion.”

North Wales-born Williams’s parents, Ian and Ellen, hope more will be revealed when a full inquest is opened next month.

They have been told by MI6 chiefs not to talk about his death, while police and security officers have also remained tight-lipped – fuelling speculation the British establishment does not want to reveal what happened to one of its most valued agents.

It was 4.40pm on August 23, 2010, when his naked, contorted body was found by police, zipped and padlocked in a red, 140-litre-capacity North Face hold-all in the bath of his top-floor apartment owned by MI6.

There were no signs of a struggle within flat 4, Alderney Street, Pimlico, less than a mile away from MI6’s HQ, across Vauxhall Bridge.

The key to the bag’s Yale lock was in the hold-all and police said forensic tests showed at least one other person was involved but have not been able to prove it was murder and do not think he killed himself.

Williams, a 9st cycling enthusiast, had not showed up at work for days when an officer went to the flat. Police said he probably died eight days earlier – just weeks after a man and woman of Mediterranean appearance had called at his flat.

Mystery also surrounds a break-in at the flat in the months before – while more twists and turns in the story led to lurid tales about his private life.

One claimed he was a transvestite who police thought may have been murdered by a gay lover.

And the most extreme claim was that he may have died in an auto-erotic asphyxiation sex game gone wrong.

Police also revealed he had £15,000 worth of unworn women’s designer clothing, shoes and wigs in his flat, but his friends believe many of these stories were planted to cloud the investigation.

Crispin Black, an intelligence analyst and former adviser to the Government, says the most likely explanation is that Williams was murdered.

“The thing has a professional air – it’s neat, it’s tidy, it’s organised,” he said.

“A bath is where you put things if you don’t want any forensic residue to be left behind – because you know where the body’s been and you can clear up after it.”

The fact the body was found locked in a holdall, with the key inside, provides the strongest indication he was executed by a foreign death squad.

Investigators believe the team were so expert at their deadly trade, they left no obvious signs of the cause of death.

A security source said: “This has all the hallmarks of a state-sponsored assassination. If you’ve got a problem with your codes being broken, the only solution is to remove the codebreaker.

"They’re incredibly hard to replace because they are recruited for having the sharpest mathematical brains.

"There’s always suspicion about the Russians because in many ways the Cold War never completely ended.”

The possibility of a British intelligence mole has to be a huge worry for national security.

Professor Anthony Glees, director of security and intelligence studies at the independent University of Buckingham, said: “Sir Malcolm himself says he could not give the public reassurance that national security had not been breached by Gareth Williams’s death.

"I think we need an answer, especially in light of the fact that this year, with the Olympics and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, we are clearly a target.

“It’s a possibility that there is a spy and that someone betrayed Gareth Williams.

"It’s by no means unthinkable he was targeted by intelligence officials from other countries who believed he was targeting them.”

The police have not spoken publicly about the death for a year.

And Williams family friend Trefor Lloyd Hughes, 64, said: “I have no doubt some higher influences will be involved here which may stop certain information from getting through, but the family need peace.”

Even before his secondment to MI6, his work in signals intelligence at GCHQ would have put him on the front line in the international cyber war, helping to combat insurgent bombers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Codebreakers, phone and radio interceptors and internet experts fight the triple threat of terrorism, espionage and organised crime.

At Williams’s funeral at the windswept Bethel Chapel in Holyhead, Anglesey, his family were consoled by MI6 chief Sir John Sawyers, who said: “Gareth did really valuable work with us in the cause of national security.”

Back in Anglesey, those who knew Gareth Williams would no doubt like to know if it was that cause which he ended up giving his life for.

Mirror : Police try to trace 60 fingerprints from 'spy in the bag' Gareth Williams's flat

Police try to trace 60 fingerprints from 'spy in the bag' Gareth Williams's flat

by Justin Penrose, Sunday Mirror | February 27, 2011

DETECTIVES investigating the death of “spy in the bag” Gareth Williams are hoping to identify 60 fingerprints taken from his flat.

Officers are trying to get the dabs of fellow spies who stayed in the £1million MI6 safehouse so they can be eliminated from the probe.

The naked body of code-breaker Williams, 31, was found in a padlocked holdall in a bath in ­August. Prints are also being taken from his friends and family.

A source said: “It is one of the last throws of the dice.”

Cops face being kicked out of the flat in Pimlico, London, as it has been a potential crime scene for six months.

The source added: “The landlord is well within his rights to kick us out.”

Mirror : Spies to give anonymous evidence at inquest of MI6 man found dead in holdall

Spies to give anonymous evidence at inquest of MI6 man found dead in holdall

by Adrian Shaw, Daily Mirror | February 16, 2011

Up to 40 spies who worked with the MI6 agent found dead in a padlocked holdall will give evidence in secret.

City of Westminster coroner Dr Paul Knapman heard Gareth Williams’s family is happy for spies to stay behind a screen and not reveal names at his inquest.

The naked body of Mr Williams, 31, of Anglesey, North Wales, was found in his London flat in August. Det Chief Insp Jacqueline Sebire yesterday admitted: “We have no substantial leads at this time.” The inquest was adjourned to March 31.

Mirror : MI6 spy death could be bizarre art course accident

MI6 spy death could be bizarre art course accident

By Susie Boniface, Sunday Mirror | January 16, 2011

MI6 spy Gareth Williams – whose body was found naked in a padlocked bag – may have died while taking part in a bizarre experiment for an art project.

Police now believe the codebreaker could have accidentally killed himself while doing research for a part-time art and fashion course after being set an assignment entitled Living Spaces.

In the weeks before his death it is feared he was trying to push the ­boundaries by existing in a confined space.

The development would come as a comfort to Gareth’s family, who have endured months of speculation that he was secretly gay, indulged in bizarre sex games and was a cross-dresser.

The superfit maths genius, 31, had joined a weekend class at prestigious Central St Martin’s College in London to learn about clothes design.

Gareth’s body lay undiscovered for more than a week in a padlocked North Face holdall in the bath of an MI6 safe house in Pimlico, central London, where he was living.

It has now emerged that, in marked contrast to his work in the staid world of the secret services, he paid £695 to enrol on a part-time course run by ­lecturer and designer Cheryl Eastap called Fashion Design for Beginners.

Every Saturday he cycled or took the Tube three stops to join 17 other students from 10am to 4pm on the intensive 10-week course.

The college’s list of illustrious ­graduates reads like a Who’s Who of British art and fashion including punk maverick Malcolm McLaren, designers ­Alexander McQueen, John Galliano and Stella McCartney, whose clothes Gareth collected.

Gareth also enrolled on an arts evening class as part of a secret life away from ­being a spy.

The macabre discovery of his body prompted a massive police inquiry in which murder or ­manslaughter were two prominent theories.

But officers are now working on the basis that the death was a bizarre ­accident NOT related to a sex game – and was not foul play.

A source close to the investigation said: “Gareth was exceptionally ­talented at what he did and took it very ­seriously. Alongside cycling, fashion and art was a big obsession of his.

“It was typical of Gareth to throw everything he had into a project so certainly one avenue we are now ­looking at is whether he was experimenting with his art work. It would make a lot of sense.

“We’re still looking at whether anyone else was there at the time of his death and continue to appeal for more ­information, but it is looking more like a tragic, freak accident than a ­murder.”

The spy’s death posed awkward ­problems for police because his body had no sign of injury and post-mortems found no cause of death.

His blood was checked for poisons and he was even checked for exposure to radioactive elements such as ­Polonium-210, which was used to ­assassinate former Russian spy ­Alexander Litvinenko.

Gareth, from Holyhead, Anglesey, had been living at the £1million flat while on secondment to MI6.

He was working on encrypted ­computer systems used to analyse ­international intelligence on suspects ranging from al-Qaeda to cyber-terrorists attacking the banking system. As they investigated his death, ­detectives searched his belongings and found £15,000 of untouched women’s ­designer clothes and shoes, still in their wrapping, from high-end labels including Diane von Fürstenberg, Christian Louboutin and Stella McCartney.

His laptop computer had been used to access websites linked to bondage ­practices and there were unfounded reports that £18,000 had gone missing.

A man and woman of “Mediterranean appearance” were also hunted after being seen entering the building but have never been found, causing some to suggest they were either agents of a foreign power sent to kill Gareth or involved in sex games with him.

It was discovered that it was possible for someone of Gareth’s size and trim build to climb into the bag and padlock the zip shut from inside.

The source said the laptop, on which Gareth stored his coursework, led them to quiz his college tutor Cheryl Eastap about the module she was teaching and whether her pupil might have gone beyond the boundaries of what was expected. It hasn’t been suggested Ms Eastap instructed her students to take part in any dangerous experiments.

The police source added: “It’s most likely he was using the dresses as part of his studies, rather than being a cross-dresser. He had also visited websites linked to bondage although he may have simply been looking up ways to lock himself up and then unlock himself.”

One of the fellow pupils on Gareth’s course said the spy was not known to be gay and had a series of girlfriends.The student added: “Gareth was ­passionate about clothes and everyone assumed this is what he wanted to do as a career.

“No-one knew he was a spy or ­working for MI6 but he was very polite and quiet. He was extremely clever, good at what he was doing and had clearly ­researched his subject.

“The police came to the college and took all the work he had produced for the course and any projects he was involved in.”

The brochure for the course says: “We will cover the basics of fashion design including inspiration, ­research, developing your ideas, figure illustration and portfolio preparation.”

Ms Eastap confirmed she had been questioned by police over the ­possible links between his death and a project called Living Spaces.

However, she insisted the death must have been caused by ­something, or someone, else.

She said: “The police did come to see me. The idea that his death and his work on the course was linked is a crazy idea that the police dreamed up. They said it might relate to it but I can’t see how it relates at all.”

Last month Sian Lloyd-Jones, Gareth’s childhood sweetheart and best friend, said he often bought her designer clothes and that all those found in his flat were a size 6 or 8. They would not have fitted him but may have been intended for her or his ­sister.

She added: “He was really open with his friends and family about his ­personal life and I truly believe if he had any interest in homosexuality he would have spoken to his sister and to me as well.

“I’m not in denial and nor are ­Gareth’s mum, dad or sister. It would have been fine if he was but he had too much ­interest in women.”

s.boniface@sundaymirror.co.uk

Mirror : Body in the bag spy Gareth Williams spent £15,000 on women's clothes and visited bondage websites

Body in the bag spy Gareth Williams spent £15,000 on women's clothes and visited bondage websites

by Jon Clements | December 23, 2010

THE MI6 codebreaker found dead in a padlocked bag had researched bondage websites – and spent £15,000 on women’s clothes, police revealed yesterday.

Maths genius Gareth Williams, 31, had visited four bondage sites and looked into how people escape after tying themselves up.

Det Chief Supt Hamish Campbell, investigating his bizarre death, said: “We’re trying to see if it was as a direct result of what we’ve seen on the net – bondage sites and escape.”

Officers released the details with the consent of the spy’s grief-stricken family as part of a new appeal for information.

They also said Mr Williams owned Stella McCartney dresses and Christian Louboutin designer shoes. He kept his interest in the clothes and wigs a secret – but there is no evidence he wore any of them.

Scotland Yard believes Mr Williams, who was found naked in his flat, died in a weird sex game which went wrong when both keys to the padlock were accidentally left in the bag.

Detectives say someone else must have been involved because it would have been impossible for Mr Williams to lock himself inside.

Det Chief Supt Campbell said: “We’re sure someone else was in the flat so need to know the circumstances where you leave someone in that position by accident or by design. It’s unexplained and suspicious.”

As police issued e-fits of a Mediterranean couple suspected of having a key to Mr Williams’ flat in Pimlico, Central London, other revelations about his private life were revealed. While he worked tracking al-Qaeda suspects at the government listening post at GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucs, Mr Williams took two evening courses in women’s fashion.

He saw drag queen Jimmy Woo at East London bar Bistrotheque three days before he died and bought tickets to two similar acts at a gay pub.

Police also said Mr Williams is not known to have had any sexual partners and there is no evidence he was gay.

The inquiry continues to focus on the man and woman buzzed into the block of flats a few weeks before he died.

An intelligence officer at the GCHQ-owned apartments spoke briefly to the couple and was told a man called Pier Paulo had given them the key. They went upstairs towards Mr Williams’ flat but were not seen going inside.

Det Chief Insp Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, said: “Gareth was an intensely private person and would not give his key to anybody, so the fact they had the key for his flat could be a very important detail in unlocking a part of his private life we’ve yet to uncover.”

Mr Williams, of Holyhead, Anglesey, is believed to have died on August 16, a week before his body was found inside the North Face bag. He was lying on his back with his legs bent under him and with his hands on his chest.

An expert in confined spaces from the National Policing Improvement Agency estimates that anyone inside the waterproof holdall would have run out of oxygen after half an hour.

Mr Williams was uninjured apart from small bruises on his elbows, and tests found there were no drugs, poison or alcohol in his system. His inquest takes place in February.

There were no signs of a disturbance at the apartment and nothing was missing.

Mirror : MI6 spy Gareth Williams visited bondage websites and owned £15k women's designer clothes collection

MI6 spy Gareth Williams visited bondage websites and owned £15k women's designer clothes collection

December 22, 2010

Mystery death spy Gareth Williams visited a series of bondage websites in the months before his death, police revealed today.

The 31-year-old MI6 codebreaker viewed sites showing people bound and tied, which included do-it-yourself guides.

Detectives also found a £15,000 collection of unworn women's designer clothing, including tops, dresses and shoes in his wardrobe.

They revealed he visited a drag cabaret in east London four days before his death and held tickets to two more.

One witness has also come forward to say he was at a popular gay bar in Vauxhall several months before his death.

Mr Williams's decomposing body was found in a padlocked holdall in the bath of his Pimlico flat on August 23. The keys were inside.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the inquiry, said she is convinced someone else helped put him in there.

She said police believe they will get to the bottom of the intensely private spy's death by studying his private life.

Speaking at New Scotland Yard today, she said: "We remain completely open-minded about how he died.

"We are appealing today to someone who is out there to come forward and tell us more."

The GCHQ code-breaker, who had been on secondment to the spy agency, was found dead by police after concerns were raised for his welfare.

The mysterious circumstances of Mr Williams's death sparked an international frenzy of speculation.

No evidence of drugs, alcohol or poisons were found during a battery of tests conducted by toxicologists.

Mrs Sebire revealed that police have forensic evidence that other people were in the flat, whom they have not been able to trace.

She added that an expert, brought in to examine the red North Face holdall Mr Williams was found in, concluded he could not have locked it.

The zip was held shut by a common travel-style Yale padlock through holes in two zip fasteners.

Tests found the temperature inside the bag would have risen to 30C within three minutes.

An expert on survivability in confined spaces from the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) said he would have suffocated in 30 minutes. Mrs Sebire said Mr Williams probably died in the early hours of August 16, one week before he was found.

She said there was no sign of injury, apart from bruising to his elbows, which might have taken place some time before his death.

Police also released two e-fits of a couple who said they were visiting Mr Williams's Alderney Street home in late June or July.

The casually-dressed Mediterranean couple, in their twenties, were buzzed through the communal entrance by another resident.

They suggested they had been given a key by "Pierre Palo" and were on their way to flat four.

Mr Williams, of Anglesey, North Wales, was last seen alive on August 15, eight days before he was found dead in the £400,000 property.

Speaking about his private life, Mrs Sebire said a collection of six boxes of unworn designer clothing were found in a wardrobe.

She said items by Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane, and Louboutin had been bought at London boutiques and online.

The senior detective said the clothing was in various sizes, all small, and a number of women's wigs were also found.

Mrs Sebire said Mr Williams attended two fashion design courses at Central St Martins College, in Clerkenwell, in 2009 and 2010.

She revealed that GCHQ did not know Mr Williams had undertaken the courses or that he had an interest in fashion.

The detectives said it was possible the clothing was linked to the diploma courses for beginners, which Mr Williams had passed.

They were evening or weekend classes which lasted between six and eight weeks.

None of the clothing had been worn or hung up. Buttons were done up and items were still wrapped in paper.

Mrs Sebire said analysis of Mr Williams's phones and laptops revealed he visited no more than five bondage websites.

Speaking about his private life, Mrs Sebire said a collection of six boxes of unworn designer clothing were found in a wardrobe.

She said items by Stella McCartney, Christopher Kane, and Louboutin had been bought at London boutiques and online.

The senior detective said the clothing was in various sizes, all small, and a number of women's wigs were also found.

Mrs Sebire said Mr Williams attended two fashion design courses at Central St Martins College, in Clerkenwell, in 2009 and 2010.

She revealed that GCHQ did not know Mr Williams had undertaken the courses or that he had an interest in fashion.

The detectives said it was possible the clothing was linked to the diploma courses for beginners, which Mr Williams had passed.

They were evening or weekend classes which lasted between six and eight weeks.

None of the clothing had been worn or hung up. Buttons were done up and items were still wrapped in paper.

Mrs Sebire said analysis of Mr Williams's phones and laptops revealed he visited no more than five bondage websites.

The detective said there was evidence that Mr Williams viewed the sites occasionally from the end of last year onwards.

But she added there was no evidence that he was "obsessed" with bondage and no other pornography was found.

Mrs Sebire also said no bondage paraphernalia or equipment was found in the flat.

Describing his online bondage habits, she said Mr Williams spent between 30 minutes and an hour on the sites.

Mrs Sebire said: "It was very limited sections of time. It is not like continual browsing. It was not every evening or weekend."

She added: "The sites primarily feature women and there are guides on how to do certain things."

He last visited an online bondage website in July.

Mrs Sebire said that despite the women's clothing, possible visit to the gay bar and drag act tickets, police do not know for certain that Mr Williams was gay.

She said: "We do not have any evidence to suggest that he was gay. We have not spoken to any past or present sexual partner, whether male or female.

"We know he was intensely private, and however difficult this might be for someone who has has any interaction with Gareth, it would really help us if they came forward so we know if that side of his life had any relevance to his death."

Speaking about how Mr Williams ended up in the bag, Mrs Sebire said an expert found it is "quite easy" to fit someone inside.

She said: "If he was alive, he got into it voluntarily or, if not, he was unconscious and placed in the bag."

Speaking about the flat, she added: "There is forensic evidence that indicates the presence of other people that we have not been able to eliminate yet."

Mrs Sebire said there was no evidence Mr Williams was suicidal and he had recently returned from a fly-drive holiday to America's west coast.

Police said there were no signs of forced entry or a struggle at the top-floor flat, which was rented through a letting agency.

None of his possessions were laid out in a "ritualistic" manner, contrary to reports.

Mr Williams had a laptop and four mobile phones, including at least one pay-as-you go handset.

The death remains suspicious and unexplained and no conclusive cause of death has been found.

An inquest will be held at Westminster Coroner's Court on February 15.

Mr Williams returned from the United States on August 11 and attended Bistroteque, in Bethnal Green, on Friday August 13.

Police said the restaurant, bar and theatre venue hosted Jimmy Woo, a drag cabaret act that night and the spy went alone.

Others who were at the event have told police Mr Williams chatted amicably with members of the audience.

Mr Williams also held two tickets for drag shows at the Vauxhall Tavern, a landmark pub in the gay nightlife area, that took place after his death.

A witness has also come forward to say he saw Mr Williams at Barcode, a gay bar in Vauxhall, in May.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell said police hope that revealing some details of Mr Williams' private life may encourage people to come forward.

He said: "This is not intended to add salacious detail or tittle-tattle.

"We feel there is some small sub-group of the community or individuals who may know something about this matter and the nature of Gareth's death.

"They are naturally embarrassing, hurtful and distressing for the family but they are aware of the matters we are raising."

Mr Campbell added that investigators are sure someone else involved with the bondage or gay scene has "linked in" with Mr Williams but police "cannot find that trace".

He said: "We are very sure that someone else was in that flat. We want to know the circumstances when you would leave somebody in that position, by accident or design."

He added: "Maybe, by explaining to the public, someone will think: 'I get it and I can explain."'

Mirror : Family of tragic Gareth Williams want body back

Family of tragic Gareth Williams want body back

September 11, 2010

Murdered MI6 spy Gareth Williams' angry family last night demanded that his body is released so they can organise their own postmortem.

The coroner has refused to release the body because police don't yet know exactly how he died.

But the delay has infuriated his relatives who have been unable to hold a funeral more than three weeks after his death.

A family source was reported as saying: "We've made it clear to the police we want the body back as soon as possible."

Mr Williams, 31, was found dead in a sports bag in the bath of his Central London flat.

Police chiefs say that the first postmortem and subsequent tests have proved inconclusive.

Mirror : Was MI6 spy nuked?

Was MI6 spy nuked?

By Jon Clements | September 7, 2010

The body of murdered MI6 agent Gareth Williams is being examined for radiation poisoning as no obvious cause of death has been found.

The move comes as police began hunting a mystery Mediterranean couple who visited his block of flats weeks before his death.

Meanwhile, the 31-year-old's corpse will be tested for traces of chemicals such as Polonium 210 - used to murder exiled Russian secret agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

Other poisons police are searching for include traces of cyanide, stricknine and even ricin, which Bulgarian agents used to murder dissident Georgi Markov in 1978 on Waterloo Bridge.

A postmortem has found no answers and toxicology tests unearthed no signs of alcohol or drugs in his system.

Police sources say there is no indication of radioactive poisons but investigators could not rule out anything.

Scotland Yard yesterday released CCTV footage of his last-known movements as he caught a Tube train on August 14 and shopped in Central London the next day. His naked corpse was found in a zipped and padlocked red North Face bag dumped in his bath on August 23.

Detectives believe the unidentified couple may have visited him at the apartment late at night in June or July. The man and woman, thought be aged 20 to 30, were buzzed in by entryphone at the communal front door but none of the neighbours knew them.

The couple are the only recent visitors to the address in Pimlico, Central London, believed to still be unaccounted for. One theory is they were acquaintances of the murdered agent who were unknown to his family or employers.

Tests have shown there were no marks on Mr Williams' body, no signs of forced entry or disturbance at the property and nothing was stolen. The Cambridge-educated maths genius had returned home on August 11 from a holiday in the US.

He had often flown to the States on top secret work visiting the National Security Agency's eavesdropping HQ. Over the next few days back in London he was captured on CCTV at Holland Park Tube station in West London, dressed in a red T-shirt and clutching a shopping bag. The last camera sighting of him was on August 15, when he went into Harrods in Knightsbridge and walked towards nearby Sloane Street, near a Dolce and Gabbana store.

Police found his body on the afternoon or August 23 after being alerted by MI6 staff when he failed to turn up to work.

Det Chief Insp Jacqueline Sebire, leading the investigation, said: "I would appeal to anyone who may have seen or had contact with Gareth between August 11 and 23 to come forward. This remains a complex, unexplained death enquiry."

Russian exile Mr Litvinenko collapsed on November 1 four years ago after drinking from a cup of tea spiked with Polonium 210 while meeting two former KGB secret service men at a hotel in London.

Doctors were initially mystified about the cause of his illness. They wrongly believed it was rat poison until advanced tests identified the rare radioactive isotope.

Mr Litvineko died on November 23 from heart failure after suffering agonising stomach pains. Six months later UK prosecutors announced that former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi should be charged with murder. Russia will not extradite him.

~~~

POLONIUM

Named after Poland. Just 0.1 microgrammes - equal to one-ten millionth of an aspirin pill - would be fatal.

Mirror : Gareth Williams death: Detectives won't rule out link to spy job - Exclusive

Gareth Williams death: Detectives won't rule out link to spy job - Exclusive

By Jon Clements and Josh Layton | August 30, 2010

Detectives investigating the death of code-breaker Gareth Williams have not ruled out a link to his job.

Officers are "completely open-minded" about the circumstances of the MI6 officer's death and insist it is too early to rule out a connection with national security.

A source told the Mirror: "There has been a lot of talk that the key to this tragedy must lie in his personal life. Well, that isn't necessarily the case and until more facts are known all the possibilities are still there."

Mr Williams' body was found last week inside a red bag in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, Central London. Detectives suspect someone was planning to move Mr Williams' body in the bag at a later date.

His parents Ian and Ellen Williams have been devastated by claims that bondage gear was found at the property and alleged links to gay escorts.

Scotland Yard yesterday refused to comment on reports that a wig and make-up were also found, as fresh claims surfaced linking keen cyclist Mr Williams to a gay bar near MI6 headquarters in Vauxhall, South London.

Meanwhile insiders confirmed the 31-year-old's financial affairs were being closely examined but stressed there was no evidence of blackmail.

Last week a pathologist was unable to establish cause of death and the results of a second postmortem are expected tomorrow.

Mirror : Was MI6 spy Gareth Williams poisoned?

Was MI6 spy Gareth Williams poisoned?

By Justin Penroe | August 29, 2010

Detectives hunting the killer of MI6 spy Gareth Williams were last night working on the theory he was poisoned.

In a new twist to an investigation which has so far baffled murder squad detectives, tests have revealed there were no signs of violence on his body, and no signs he had taken part in any sexual activity.

The results add weight to theories that maths genius Mr Williams, 30, was targeted because of his job as a code breaker with GCHQ. Detectives have ordered a toxicology test to look for traces of poison in his bloodstream. The results are not expected for at least another week, but officers fear he was ­murdered like former KGB agent ­Alexander Litvinenko – whose tea was spiked with poison. Another possibility being considered is that Mr Williams was either drugged or died of a drug overdose in his Central London flat.

His body was discovered stuffed in a sports bag at the flat on ­Monday.

Mr Williams had been working for MI6 on a one-year posting but was due to return to his regular job at the GCHQ listening station in Cheltenham at the start of next month.

A police source said: “Until we get the toxicology results it is a mystery how he died, but poisoning because of his work is a distinct possibility.”

Mirror : Spy death: Family fury at 'lurid' Gareth Williams lies

Spy death: Family fury at 'lurid' Gareth Williams lies

By Jon Clements | August 28, 2010

The grieving family of codebreaker Gareth Williams fear "dark forces" are at work to smear their son's name over his role in the war on terror.

Devastated parents Ian and Ellen Williams have endured a string of sordid allegations about his life and demanded answers from security services and police.

They fear lurid claims the MI6 worker was gay and his flat was strewn with bondage gear could be an attempt to discredit him to hide the true cause of his death - possibly in the interests of national security.

His uncle Michael Hughes said: "There has been a concerted effort to discredit Gareth that leaves us asking ourselves why?" He said "dark forces" were at work, adding: "We are increasingly concerned that one of the reasons may be to take attention away from other truths about what happened.

"One of those possibilities is that he may have been killed because of his work.

"His job was a sensitive one. Perhaps the way the conspiracy works is that if Gareth's reputation can be destroyed, then any subsequent claims relating to his professional life can be discredited, too. If we're right, then Gareth has been stitched up by the very people he devoted his whole life to." Keen cyclist Gareth, 31, described as a maths genius, played a crucial role in deciphering codes crucial to foiling al-Qaeda plots and regularly flew to America to work with National Security Agency officials. Last night his parents spoke for the first time about his death in a statement from their home near Holyhead, Anglesey. Ian and Ellen said: "Gareth was a generous, loving son, brother, and friend, and a very private person. He was a great athlete, and loved cycling and music.

"His loss has devastated us and we would ask anyone with information to come forward and assist the enquiry."

Police, who have no idea how he died, will investigate if he was the victim of a professional hit or even if it was a bizarre accident or drugs overdose, given the clinically clean nature of his flat in Pimlico, Central London.

Sources said his phone SIM cards had not been left "ritualistically" but had probably been arranged like that by the spy, who was known to be fastidiously neat.

Police also revealed he was last seen alive on August 15 and there were no signs of forced entry or disturbance at his flat.

And claims that bondage gear was found on Alderney Street, where his body was discovered in the bath in a sports holdall, were described as "totally untrue". An insider said: "The inquiry is focusing on the basics starting with 'How did he die?' It will then work its way outwards."

Police had also found nothing to suggest that Mr Williams was gay but his sexuality was still a part of the investigation.

But his uncle added: "We're a close family and Gareth made regular trips back. We'd have known if he was gay. We wouldn't have treated him any differently. He was just a nice, ordinary lad. Exceptionally bright, but in every other way a normal young man."

The family are also angry they were given no warning by officials that rumours of his "secret gay life and love of sado-masochism" would be splashed across newspapers. He said: "Clearly someone briefed the press about his sexuality. It's completely false."

Mirror : Intelligence expert Crispin Black says a spy’s life includes danger, hard graft and a dash of glamour

Intelligence expert Crispin Black says a spy’s life includes danger, hard graft and a dash of glamour

By Crispin Black | August 28, 2010

Discretion and the principle of “need to know” govern every aspect of an intelligence officer’s life.

They are allowed to reveal to their families their real job although this is a relatively recent concession.Selected close friends are also allowed to be in on the secret but only in the most generalised terms.

To the rest of the world spooks assume a false identity usually pretending to work for the Foreign Office or the Ministry of Defence.

Whatever the cover story it is well backed up. If a spook is pretending to work as a commercial attaché his or her name will appear in the Diplomatic List as just that.

There are three intelligence ­agencies. The first, MI6 or the Secret Intelligence Service, deals with acquiring intelligence abroad.

Usually, they operate from “stations” inside British embassies – speaking their own jargon. The senior spook is Head of Station or H.

Sir John Scarlett, who was at the centre of the controversies over the Iraq dossiers was famously “H Moscow”, smuggling a top defector out of Russia in the boot of an embassy car under the very noses of the very angry KGB.

After the invasion of Iraq Tony Blair promoted him to be Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service or C. Its biggest stations are now in Islamabad and Kabul, where conditions are tough. Elsewhere the James Bond lifestyle is still maintained.

The second agency, MI5 or the Security Service, is responsible for security at home. The job is more high-level complex police work than anything else. The most difficult and demanding aspects of the job are the surveillance operations mounted on unfolding terrorist plots.

If an intelligence officer is part of such a team he may not see friends and family for weeks on end and will subsist on coffee and takeaways.Things have improved slightly over the past few years as MI5 has developed regional stations with proper accommodation for its agents.

The third agency, GCHQ, are the listeners – direct descendants of the talented folk who broke codes at Bletchley Park in the Second World War. They have a hi-tech headquarters in Cheltenham known as the Doughnut because of its shape.

Tasked with breaking enemy codes and protecting our own electronic secrets they stare for long hours at computer screens trying to make sense of garbled conversations in foreign languages. They are serious and secretive people but they do let their hair down at Cheltenham Races, especially on Gold Cup Day.

Life in all three agencies is about detailed hard work. On every desk there are reminders of its importance. The most secret intelligence is contained in brightly coloured folders. As in nature, where the most dangerous animals are brightly coloured, the brighter the colour the more secret the intelligence. The ones for the Prime Minister and the Queen are bound in scarlet and gold.

In the dark hours all three agencies take comfort in the reflected glory from their fictional counterparts. James Bond was/is an MI6 agent. Traditionally every Bond film has a For Spooks Eyes Only premiere.

Film magnates and spies mingle at a cocktail party beforehand. In 1999 at the first showing of The World Is Not Enough the audience cheered as their Vauxhall Cross HQ was blown up. Senior management was apparently not amused.

MI5 are lucky enough to have the BBC TV hit Spooks which has done wonders for recruitment and morale. There was always a feeling before that they were in some way “poor relations” to their counterparts south of the river.

Their real Albert Embankment HQ is even more hi-tech and glossy than the BBC studio mock up. But officers tend to dress down in case they have to drop everything and hit the street on some urgent surveillance.

GCHQ has its own heroes from the past – principally the Bletchley Park geniuses who broke the secret German codes so vividly brought to life in the film Enigma.

But it is not all hard work. One of the most glamorous parts of being a spy is the visits to the US. MI5 go to FBI headquarters in downtown Washington and MI6 to the CIA base in Langley. No alcohol is served at Langley dinners – except when the British are in town.

The closest relationship is between GCHQ and the National Security Agency who have a formal arrangement splitting responsibility for the world. There is a constant stream of British visitors to its Fort Meade HQ in Maryland, known as the Puzzle Palace.

The world’s most powerful computers are there and the most brilliant mathematical minds. Gareth Williams visited often and would no doubt have been at home with his fellow maths whizz-kids.

The exchange of information is free and frank. He would have been privy to US as well as British secrets.

That is why the Americans are taking such a strong interest in his death.

Mirror : THE U.S. CONNECTION -- EXCLUSIVE: Chiefs mourn loss of 'genius'

THE U.S. CONNECTION -- EXCLUSIVE: Chiefs mourn loss of 'genius'

By Jon Clements | August 27, 2010

The full extent of murdered spy Gareth Williams' role in the world of espionage slowly began to emerge last night.

He was rated as one of the best codebreakers in the business - an elite agent who fought in secret to thwart al-Qaeda terror attacks at home and abroad.

And the 31-year-old maths genius's unique skills were also recognised by spy chiefs across the Atlantic.

Despite a dislike of flying, he regularly travelled from London to Baltimore to meet US National Security Agency officials at their Fort Meade HQ - dubbed the Puzzle Palace.

He made the trip up to four times a year "on business" for the Government's GCHQ listening post.

Last night his uncle told how he would mysteriously disappear for up to three or four weeks at a time.

Speaking at his farmhouse at Anglesey, North Wales, Michael Hughes said: "The trips were very hush-hush. They were so secret that I only recently found out about them - and we're a very close family. It had become part of his job in the past few years. His last trip out there was a few weeks ago, but he was regularly back and forth."

Mr Williams' mysterious death has shocked and dismayed officials at the NSA, which has an agreement with GCHQ to pool their signal intelligence - known as SigInt.

Fort Meade officials have been updated on the police investigation into how the keen cyclist, who was on attachment to MI6, was found dead in a sports holdall in his bathtub.

They are anxious to know if there has been any breach of global security as a result of the murder at Mr Williams' Government-owned flat in Pimlico, Central London.

Britain now relies heavily on the NSA to help monitor phone calls, emails, texts and other communications of UK terror suspects.

When MI5 discovered the plot in 2006 by British Muslims to bomb transatlantic jets, GCHQ called in the NSA to help - and Williams worked closely alongside them.

Spy satellites tracked and secretly copied emails from mastermind Rashid Rauf in Pakistan to the two ringleaders in Walthamstow, East London. The messages were vital to the 2008 convictions of Abdullah Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain.

Mr Williams, who won a first class honours degree in maths at just 17, used to spend an average 19 days on each US trip before taking a fortnight's holiday.

One Western intelligence source told the Mirror: "He will have had crucial high-level meetings with American intelligence officers. His job would have been crucial to the security of the UK and our interests abroad - and also to America and Europe.

"Although not particularly high up the GCHQ ladder, the importance of his role should not be underestimated. The man was a mathematical genius."

It is thought Mr Williams may have had input into the monitoring of communications between Taliban commanders in Afghanistan - and even the tracking of serious organised crime suspects.

His death is being seen as a major blow to the security services because of his unusual and rare talents. A spokesman for Bangor University, where he completed his degree in just two years, described the fitness fanatic as "extremely gifted".

And a former classmate at Uwchradd Bodedern secondary in Anglesey said: "Nobody ever needed a calculator when Gareth was around."

Police investigating his death continue to focus on his personal life as they try to establish a motive.

Relatives are baffled by claims his body lay undiscovered for up to two weeks as his sister Ceri, from Chester, says she spoke to him last Wednesday.

Mirror : Security chiefs mourn loss of ‘genius’ spy Gareth Williams

Security chiefs mourn loss of ‘genius’ spy Gareth Williams

By Jon Clements | August 27, 2010

The full extent of murdered spy Gareth Williams’ role in the world of espionage slowly began to emerge last night.

He was rated as one of the best code-breakers in the business – an elite agent who fought in secret to thwart al-Qaeda terror attacks at home and abroad.

And the 31-year-old maths genius’s unique skills were also recognised by spy chiefs across the Atlantic.

Despite a dislike of flying, he regularly travelled from London to Baltimore to meet US National Security Agency officials at their Fort Meade HQ – dubbed the Puzzle Palace.

He made the trip up to four times a year “on business” for the Government’s GCHQ listening post.

Last night his uncle told how he would mysteriously disappear for up to three or four weeks at a time.

Speaking at his farmhouse at Anglesey, North Wales, Michael Hughes said: “The trips were very hush-hush. They were so secret that I only recently found out about them – and we’re a very close family. It had become part of his job in the past few years. His last trip out there was a few weeks ago, but he was regularly back and forth.”

Mr Williams’ mysterious death has shocked and dismayed officials at the NSA, which has an agreement with GCHQ to pool their signal intelligence – known as SigInt.

Fort Meade officials have been updated on the police investigation into how the cyclist, who was on attachment to MI6, was found dead in a sports holdall in his bathtub.

They are anxious to know if there has been any breach of global security as a result of the murder at Mr Williams’ Government-owned flat in Pimlico, Central London.

Britain now relies heavily on the NSA to help monitor phone calls, emails, texts and other communications of UK terror suspects.

When MI5 discovered the plot in 2006 by British Muslims to bomb transatlantic jets, GCHQ called in the NSA to help – and Williams worked closely alongside them.

Spy satellites tracked and secretly copied emails from mastermind Rashid Rauf in Pakistan to the two ringleaders in Walthamstow, East London. The messages were vital to the 2008 convictions of Abdullah Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain. Mr Williams, who won a first class honours degree in maths at just 17, used to spend an average 19 days on each US trip before taking a fortnight’s holiday.

One Western intelligence source told the Mirror: “He will have had crucial high-level meetings with American intelligence officers. His job would have been crucial to the security of the UK and our interests abroad – and also to America and Europe.

“Although not particularly high up the GCHQ ladder, the importance of his role should not be underestimated. The man was a mathematical genius.”

It is thought Mr Williams may have had input into the monitoring of communications between Taliban commanders in Afghanistan – and even the tracking of serious organised crime suspects.

His death is being seen as a major blow to the security services because of his unusual and rare talents. A spokesman for Bangor University, where he completed his degree in just two years, described the fitness fanatic as “extremely gifted”.

And a former classmate at Uwchradd Bodedern secondary in Anglesey said: “Nobody ever needed a calculator when Gareth was around.”

Police investigating his death continue to focus on his personal life as they try to establish a motive.

Relatives are baffled by claims his body lay undiscovered for up to two weeks as his sister Ceri, from Chester, says she spoke to him last Wednesday.

THE PUZZLE PALACE

The National Security Agency HQ - the Puzzle Palace - is "the largest espionage organisation the world has known".

Author James Bamford, who was given access to the organisation in Fort Meade, Maryland, in the US, said it intercepts millions of emails and calls an hour.

Bamford, author of The Puzzle Palace, said: "It is capable of eavesdropping on conversations virtually anywhere on the planet." The CIA and British partner, MI6, are better known, but the NSA and GCHQ gather most intelligence. The NSA also has a far bigger budget than the CIA and was known to have bugged six swing UN nations over Iraq. And while most intercepts are pulled from the ether, some are gathered the old-fashioned way - bugs planted in offices by "cleaners".

Mirror : DEATH OF A PERFECT SPY

DEATH OF A PERFECT SPY

BODY IN BATH
CODE MAN KILLED

By Jon Clements and Richard Smith | August 26, 2010

The MI6 spy found murdered in his home was a quiet and modest man who never broke espionage protocol by talking about his job, his friends revealed yesterday.

Gareth Williams, 31, gave nothing away about himself and no one saw him come and go from his top floor flat.

But the avid cyclist's stealthy lifestyle gives detectives few clues as to why he was brutally targeted by his attacker.

His decomposed remains lay undiscovered in a large bag in his bathtub for up to two weeks after he was killed. He is thought to have been strangled.

Officers are investigating whether his gruesome death could be linked to his top secret codebreaker's job. They are also looking at his personal life as he is thought to have let his attacker into the five-storey house.

MYSTERY

Dismissing suggestions of an assassination by foreign agents as fantasy yesterday, security sources said it was possible he may have been attacked by a friend or casual acquaintance.

They have also not ruled out the possibility another intelligence officer could be involved and plan to interview MI6 staff and Mr Williams' colleagues.

Yesterday officers were quizzing sister Ceri in Chester, where neighbours recalled Mr Williams as "the perfect spy". Ex-police officer Cathy Stanley said: "He was quiet, kept to himself and gave nothing away about himself. Classic spy profile, I suppose." His uncle William Hughes added: "He worked for GCHQ for years. He'd never talk about his work and it felt rude to ask."

Devastated former landlady Jenny Elliott, who rented him a flat above her garage in Cheltenham when he worked at GCHQ, said he was "like a mouse".

The 71-year-old added: "I came to regard him almost like a son. I used to say 'Oh go on, tell me what you do' but I didn't badger him because they weren't allowed to say. He would just give me a cheeky chuckle and one of his beautiful smiles which lit up the room." Police broke into the flat in Pimlico, Central London, after colleagues grew concerned when he did not show up for work.

Mr Williams had been living there for a year during a secondment to MI6 from the Government's listening post in Cheltenham. He was due to return to GCHQ next week.

A postmortem failed to establish how Mr Williams was killed but it is thought he was strangled or suffocated.

Detectives found his mobile phone and several SIM cards strewn around the floor. The £1 million house is owned by a company registered in British Virgin Islands.

But insiders said it was routine practice for the UK intelligence services to use foreign firms to purchase accommodation for its staff. It is understood at least three previous residents have links to GCHQ and other agencies.

Neighbours had no idea Mr Williams was a spy and were shocked when police sealed off the street on Monday.

Secretary Laura Houghton, 30, said: "His curtains were often closed. I could never tell if anyone was in. We never saw him come and go."

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Other neighbours include former home secretaries Michael Howard and Lord Brittan.

Mr Williams excelled at maths and was talent-spotted at Cambridge University. He cycled up to 200 miles a week competing in races for a club in Cheltenham.

Devastated parents Ian and Ellen returned from holiday abroad to help formally identify their son.

It is the first murder on British soil of someone linked to secret services since Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. He drank radioactive polonium-210 in tea.

A gchq spokesman said: "We do not comment on individual members of staff or whether they are staff."

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